Emile Heskey Shows the British Press Still Has Lots to Learn

For years, the British press has maligned Emile Heskey. Yet for the duration of the decade, English managers have found reason to call him into the national side. Even in his club career, he has been maligned during several Premier League stops, beginning with Leicester City in the late 1990s through today with Aston Villa.

Elements of the British press have consistently shown in their handling of Heskey, they still don’t understand football, beyond the obvious. Some might as well be naive American sportswriters used to writing about Baseball, based on the misunderstanding and misinterpretation of Heskey’s qualities.

Emile Heskey is a striker. We are told by writers who normally don’t understand the evolution of tactics or the team game that Heskey must score goals. These self styled arbiters of how football should be played and how footballers should be judged have consistently thought Heskey’s inclusion in the England side a waste.

The two best performances of the Steve McLaren era were achieved with Heskey on the pitch. The victories over Israel and Russia both by 3-0 score lines. In both matches Heskey pitch presence made a huge difference, with the big attacker taking up space and flicking the ball on well to on rushing attackers or midfielders. Heskey’s tidy play in both matches was a major factor in England’s success.

It was the performance against Russia that had many football writers in that country hailing Heskey as England’s secret weapon. Yet skepticism persisted in the English press, and some match accounts claimed the results had been achieved “inspite of Heskey’s presence.” When England failed to qualify for the Euro 2008 tournament after Heskey missed the decisive qualifiers via injury, the tact still did not change from many writers.

Under Fabio Capello, Heskey has become a regular, bordering on an automatic pick. The things he does off the ball, finding space in the attacking third and holding his position serve a tactical maestro like Fabio Capello well. His play also enhances the scoring prowess of this around him: England led UEFA World Cup Qualifying in goals scored, and almost every single one of those goals was scored while Heskey was on the pitch.

Yet, some media personalities in the Britain still do not get it. They do not understand how an attacking player does not have to score goals himself, but simply enhance the ability for the team to score goals and win matches.

Continental football analysts consistently state that those in Britain do not understand tactical football and lack the sophistication to break down tactics. This generalization is somewhat insulting to the outstanding writers such as Jonathan Wilson, David Conn, Amy Lawrence and others who have immersed themselves in football culture from abroad.

But it often times is true of the tabloid writers, and those looking to create controversy, who seize on stereotypes and report about the matches in a lazy fashion. The British press often times sees what they want to see and misses the whole picture as to squad selection and tactical setups. This is unfortunate for the home of football, and a nation that aspires to be the leading light in football punditry and analysis.

About Kartik Krishnaiyer

A lifelong lover of soccer, the beautiful game, he served from January 2010 until May 2013 as the Director of Communications and Public Relations for the North American Soccer League (NASL).
Raised on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the old NASL, Krishnaiyer previously hosted the American Soccer Show on the Champions Soccer Radio Network, the Major League Soccer Talk podcast and the EPL Talk Podcast.
His soccer writing has been featured by several media outlets including The Guardian and The Telegraph. He is the author of the book Blue With Envy about Manchester City FC.
View all posts by Kartik Krishnaiyer →

5 Responses to Emile Heskey Shows the British Press Still Has Lots to Learn

Well said. When you have goals galore in your midfield, having a big, smart hard worker like Heskey creating space up front makes all the difference. Imagine the space he’d open up for Donovan or Dempsey.

Heskey is terrific at what he does well, but does not score enough. Compare him to say, Didier Drogba who holds up better than anyone. He’s big and strong and gets the goals – so often the difference between 1st and 2nd. Heskey while undoubtably a great team player, is lacking the neccesary prowess in front of goal, and the level of confidence needed to be hailed a great.

Even still, there is no better English player for the role he plays in the national side, maybe the English press writers would like Cappello to completely overhaul the tactical system months before a crucial tournament to accomodate on off Defoe or Bent, I personally would not.

I can see Agbonlahor making it to the world cup also, based on how well he works with heskey for villa. It would give us strong options with Rooney and defoe, and much needed experience of playing together for all four In different combinations.

Speaking as a villa fan, I see heskey benefit to the club, it’s obvious to anyone watching what he brings week in week out, (why do you think wigan were so succesful?) and I believe he merits his place in both sides and will if fit, play in world cup finals.